Recommended nutritious hot dishes for children

High-calcium and high-protein meat, eggs, poultry, and fish, high-fiber and high-vitamin fresh vegetables, mushrooms, and grains, potatoes, and beans that combine energy and trace elements. There is no need to pursue expensive ingredients. Ordinary home-cooked dishes can fully meet all the growth and development nutritional needs of children aged 3-12 as long as they are properly paired.

To be honest, when I was doing free child nutrition clinics in the community, I met many mothers who asked me right away, “Should I give my baby cod fish twice a week?” ”“Are truffle steamed eggs more nutritious than ordinary steamed eggs? ”, one mother even said that she spent less than 2,000 yuan a month to buy imported ingredients for her baby. However, the baby still lacked dietary fiber during the physical examination and suffered from frequent constipation. After asking, she found out that every meal was made of precious meat and eggs, and vegetables could not be cooked three times a year. Isn’t this putting the cart before the horse?

Don't tell me, meat and eggs are actually the first choice for most families to prepare nutritious dishes for their children, and they are also the most controversial: a few years ago, there were two factions in the academic circle who argued fiercely. One faction said that children should eat more red meat and at least three times a week to supplement enough iron to avoid common iron deficiency in preschoolers. Regarding sexual anemia, another school says that red meat is high in saturated fat, so it is better to eat more white meat, which is less likely to induce obesity and precocious puberty in children. In fact, the 2022 version of the Dietary Guidelines has already given a compromise plan - just eat them interspersed, there is no need to stick to one type. For example, I usually make it for my children. On Monday, I stew a stewed chicken drumstick with the oil removed, tear it into strips and eat it with some rice. On Wednesday, I make a stewed beef brisket with tomatoes, which is soft and sour and appetizing. On Friday, I steam a small seabass of about half a catty. The meat is less thorny and tender, and it is not difficult to supplement DHA. Oh, by the way, steamed eggs are really an underrated all-purpose dish. Instead of just sprinkling chopped green onion, cut two fresh shrimps or crush a few scallops and steam them together. The calcium content is tripled and it is so tender that it melts in just one sip. I have never met a kid who doesn’t like it.

Speaking of which, the biggest headache must be that the baby doesn’t eat vegetables, right? My best friend's child used to throw green vegetables under the table when she saw them. Then she came up with a trick. She cut the broccoli into florets as big as a pinky fingernail, stir-fried them with shrimps, and finally hooked up a thin glass gravy mixed with low-sodium children's soy sauce and wrapped it around the broccoli. She told the child that it was a "little flower dipped in honey", and the child could eat half a plate in one meal. There is also a lot of debate about how to cook vegetables. Some people say that they need to be fried quickly and crispy to retain the most vitamins, while others say that they need to be stewed until they are soft and soft for digestion. In fact, it all depends on the vegetables. Green leafy vegetables such as lettuce and lettuce should be stir-fried at the highest heat for 1 minute before taking them out of the pan. This will retain the crispness without losing nutrients. For things like lettuce and wild rice with thick stems, simmer for 2 minutes longer. If they are softer, it will be easier for children to chew. There are also mushrooms that people tend to ignore. Fresh shiitake mushrooms are sliced ​​into thin slices and fried with eggs. They are so fresh that no other seasonings are needed. They can also supplement plant polysaccharides and help children improve their immunity. They are much more reliable than taking those miscellaneous supplements.

Many people think that hot dishes are just vegetables and meat. In fact, hot dishes made from cereals and potatoes are also very fragrant and can supplement a lot of trace elements that are not found in polished rice and white noodles. I have encountered parents before who said, "Sweet potatoes and pumpkins are staple foods, so how can they be eaten as a dish?" In fact, steamed baby pumpkins, yam noodles in stewed pork ribs with yam, and even honey-roasted tobacco potatoes can be eaten as side dishes for children, replacing half a bowl of rice. There are also different opinions here. Some people say that cereals and potatoes are high in carbohydrates, and children will easily gain weight if they eat too much. In fact, as long as the amount is controlled, a fist-sized piece is enough for the child at one meal. On the contrary, it can supplement sufficient B vitamins and dietary fiber, and the laxative effect is particularly good. My child had a bowel movement three or four days ago, and then added a small piece of steamed pumpkin at noon every day. It was adjusted in less than two weeks, and it really worked.

Oh, by the way, there is another common pitfall when making hot dishes for children, which is that they are always afraid of adding too many seasonings. Children under the age of 12 should not consume more than 2000 mg of sodium per day, which is about the salt of a beer cap, so try to use the freshness of the ingredients themselves to enhance the flavor. The sourness of tomatoes, the freshness of mushrooms, and the sweetness of corn are all more fragrant than seasonings. There is really no need to add chicken essence, MSG, and even dark soy sauce. Also, don’t follow those people on the Internet who cook cartoon-shaped dishes for your kids every now and then. It’s okay to do it once in a while to stimulate interest. If you don’t worry about it every time, your kids will easily develop the bad habit of “eating only when it looks good”. This is not necessary.

In fact, after all, there are not so many rigid rules for making nutritious hot dishes for your baby. As long as the ingredients are fresh, well-balanced, and your baby is willing to eat them, then it is the best. If your baby loves to eat tomato scrambled eggs, then tomato scrambled eggs are the top nutritious hot dishes for your family. You can’t compare yourself with how many expensive ingredients you eat from other families, right?